2008 Subaru Impreza WRX

Comments

I think I may take a test drive of new '09, but I don't get my hopes too high. Perhaps GTP will sway me, but I doubt it, too. Five years ago I would be extatic on that car - today I acknowledge the effort, but well - I dunno. New WRX will be great for what it is - a pocket rocket compact car, but I'm already in search for a car for grown-ups. I would easily let go a few (20-30) horses and totally sharp cornering for a better ambience and a few modern ammenities that Legacy GT offered (and some more that it doesn't). Leave the cladding, long springs and all-terrain tires in the factory and I would take it. If I had to pay extra for that, I might as well buy a car that was designed the right way from ground up in Munich. :sick:

Now, my problem with WRX ('08 or '09) is its interior - not even remotely as nice as Legacy's. It's better made than my current '02 for sure, but it's still light years from Legacy/Outback. It's dull, unexciting, and plain downgrade if you consider that the car has a sticker close to 30K. Red stiching will put some make-up on it, but it won't solve the fundamentals. None of which is true for Legacy. Boy-racer tail lights don't help, either.

Well can you blame subaru for getting out of the wagon market? Going up against the A4, 3-series and C or E class MB is a tough thing to do on a Subaru budget. Dodge even dropped the Magnum for 09, so the ranks of sporty wagons keep dropping every year.

I love my wagon but I recognize that there just isn't enough of a user base to support it.

I think the weak dollar/strong Euro combination has seriously eroded the value of German cars. If they were ever a strong value to begin with.

I just went to the Audi Ultimate Drive event at Summit Point Raceway, and it was an absolute hoot. We drove fairly well loaded A4s with the Luxury package and the adjustable Dynamic/Comfort suspension. V6 Quattro models, of course.

The scary part? Estimated list price was $48,000!

Without the Sport package! None of the cars there had them, to be comparable with the Lexus IS250 AWD, M-B 300 4Matic, and BMW 328xi they had along for comparison. The Lexus was the cheapest of the bunch at just under $40k, but all the rest were $40k plus, and Audi was the most expensive, probably because they compared their upgraded engine with the base engine of the competition.

I'm sure a 2.0T would be cheaper, but by how much? Still low $40s probably.

It's insane.

Even BMW, they bring out the 1 series, but all they really did was increase 3 series prices, and then price the 1 series where the 3 series used to be ($30-40 grand).

You can get a 128i or a FWD A3 in the high $20s, but a well equipped 135 or A3 Quattro will run well up in to the 30s.

For $48 grand you could buy two basic WRXs, or a loaded Forester XT Limited plus an Outback Sport for your kid.

I love my wagon but I recognize that there just isn't enough of a user base to support it

Mike,

I wonder if there are enough potential sales to support a 3 inch lowering kit for the Forester?

Dave

As juice said, you can put on a lowering kit for the forester and outback. JDM STi Pinks! That's what I'm doing on my LGT with my Konis. Heck coilovers run in the Sub $1k range these days and are somewhat streetable.

Hello all.... I am new to subies and this forum, but are very interested in the WRX 09. Here are the offical prices for the WRX 09 and others. Remember there is a new destination price of $665 that is not included. These are the MSRP prices only. See 2nd link below from car101.com for other stuff and invoice.

It was an anomaly. Wagons cost more to manufacture (more metal and less volume) and are always more expensive than sedans. Hatchbacks are sometimes less (Europe), but only when they are smaller than sedans and aimed to sell in larger volumes (Euro Astra, Golf/Jetta, Yaris, etc.).

So I'm stuck on which to buy, an 09 wrx or an 08 sti.... I talked to a dealer and their quote is at $31K before tax and lic., this is with a $5k off the msrp. Does that sound like a good deal to anyone or you think it may get better once the 09 come in?

It depends how much time you have. Subaru is always slow in supplying new cars at first, so for next few months dealers will play "hard to get" game on '09 WRX. Unless you have a deal like VIP, expect to pay close to the sticker. No incentives, not even discounted financing during that period. That's until all those excited people get their new and improved WRX and supplies eventually catch up with sales. 31K for STI seems like good deal, but only if you really want one. That monster power comes at price I'm not willing to pay (and I'm not talking about purchase price) - but that's a personal choice.

So the Cdn Impreza spec for 2009 is out and it is different than the rumoured US changes. In Canada, the WRX is listed as two trims - 224hp in the base and 265hp in the WRX265. Both are MT only with the moonroof available only on the 265. So the GT auto is not listed as a model option here with the "WRX" (MT 224) taking its place. FWIW, pricing is very good too with the 265 less than the list on my 2004 2.0L.